Search Engine Optimization – Assumption is the Mother of All F*ck Ups

Sorry for the potty mouth, but I just love that line from Under Seige 2 (below)

And the same goes for SEO!

The takeaway:Don’t assume you know how your customers are searching for you.

This is very important piece of the SEO puzzle that many people miss. The great news for you is that there’s tons of opportunity out there for great search results for your products and services! Remember, not everyone thinks nor keys in searches the same way, so, when you embrace this paradigm shift of getting in the heads of your collective customer base, you will start to think like *them* which will make you hungry to create content on your website which embraces *their* needs. And THAT is the whole point, right?!?

One of the best ways to figure out how your customers are searching for your products or services (notice I didn’t use the word ‘you’) is to use the Google keyword search tool. This provides hard data (exact keywords and key phrases users are keying in to Google searches) as well as additional ideas you may not have thought of on your own.

Once you have this information, you can use it to concisely craft the content of each and every webpage you want to publish on your website. (In the near future, I’m going to thoroughly explain the fine art of tagging, which can further help you publish and link your customers’ thoughts and search terms to grab additional/ better search results) “Tagging,” by the way, is almost a generic term at this stage in the game and has many different meanings and uses within different web technologies… don’t worry, I’ll cover all of them. Oh yeah, here’s a quickie on hash tagging in Twitter.

Understand this… of course there is the need for your site to be properly optimized, (a technical infusion, if you will) there is also a primary need to publish quality content. Google rewards those who think about their customers first. If you think about it, Google’s job is to provide the best search results for those looking for specific information. The word of the decade for Google is “relevance.” If this is the case, then provide relevant content. If you spend all your time thinking only about optimizing your site for Google, you’re not doing your job, which is to take care of your customers. Make sense?

I realize there are many tactics for getting great search results out there… some white hat (ethical) some black hat (unethical) techniques and I won’t go into great detail and bore you with these exact tactics. But if you just remember to stay on course and consistently think about your customer’s needs first, you’re going to have a much better chance at getting the love from Google. (Unlike those who spend their time just trying every optimization method in the book to get on page 1 of Google. #nevergonnahappen)

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Tune into KAHI LIVE (AM 950) and listen to Dave Naves, Web Pro with over 22 years experience, break downThe Web in Plain English. Dave has helped some of the world’s biggest brands such as Ticketmaster, Disney Channel, Guess, and Citysearch succeed on the web. Now he’s focused on helping Small Business America.